Ohio State Pulls Past Navy, But Concern Over Major Defects Linger

BALTIMORE – One by one, members of the Ohio State football team trickled into the bowels of M&T Bank Stadium and toward the locker room.

Most jogged through its door with wide smiles. They were the ones who chirped and howled and trumpeted the rapper Rae Sremmurd’s “No Flex Zone” next-door to a room full of reporters waiting for head coach Urban Meyer’s post-game press conference.

After all, there was some sense of joy and – perhaps more importantly – relief to be had here.

Following a 34-17 win against Navy Saturday in Baltimore, the Buckeyes had survived the persistent Midshipmen and the first expedition into a brave, new world without star quarterback Braxton Miller.

The first pass J.T. Barrett – the redshirt freshman whom Meyer has called upon to step into Miller’s oversized shoes – threw was a 14-yard completion. The second was not. And in the end, Ohio State’s first drive without Miller, the back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year and Heisman candidate, in what feels like forever stalled. The Buckeyes punted. This is the sequence they repeated for much of the first half.

Welcome to life sans Miller, former running back Carlos Hyde and all but one starting offensive lineman from a year ago.

Running backs sophomore Ezekiel Elliott and freshman Curtis Samuel combined 99 yards and a touchdown, but they were a far cry from the production and power of Hyde. The offensive line improved in the second half, but it didn’t "resemble an offensive line at Ohio State" before that, according to Meyer.

Added Meyer: "We had nine new starters on offense, that’s not a normal transition. First half was tough."

To be sure, both groups were valid concerns heading into Saturday’s game in Baltimore, and both remain glaring defects on an Ohio State team that ultimately overpowered the overmatched Midshipmen.

"Obviously with the team we’re playing next," Meyer said of a looming nighttime bout with Virginia Tech, "we have a lot of work to do. But we’ll take this win."

Because it did not come easy. After trailing 7-6 at intermission, redshirt freshman linebacker Darron Lee returned a fumble 61 yards for a touchdown to kindle a sorely-needed surge.

Junior quarterback Keenan Reynolds and Navy countered, but Barrett found wide-open senior receiver Devin Smith for 80 yards near the end of the third quarter to seize the game’s lead and momentum.

“I was trying not to miss him, he was so open,” Barrett said. “They bit so hard on the play-action so I was just trying not to miss him. He made a great catch and just ran away from them.”

And then the Buckeyes ran away from the Midshipmen.

Meanwhile, Barrett settled into the pocket and seemingly his role as the fulcrum of Ohio State’s once high-powered offense. It had to kick, bite, scratch and claw for every yard. Big, thrilling plays, at least for now, won't come as easily anymore. Barrett was no Braxton Miller, but he didn’t need to be.

"You coming in after Braxton, people expect you to do some crazy stuff," Barrett said. "I told myself, 'I’m not Braxton, I’m J.T.'"

He completed 12-of-15 passes for 226 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He wasn't perfect, but he was good enough to lead the Buckeyes on this day and the supporting cast was serviceable.

"I told him, 'Do you. Don’t try to go out there and do nothing that you don’t do and try to be like (Braxton) or anything,'" sophomore Dontre Wilson said. "'Just go out there and do you.' When you do you, that’s when you’re the most comfortable so that’s what I told him."

It's why an oppressive sense of unease that’s been cast over Columbus lifted, even if just a bit, Saturday. Barrett seems capable of leading Ohio State on a quest that was once draped in championship hopes.

Whether or not he and the Buckeyes are capable of actually fulfilling such lofty ambitions is less certain.

I thought the second half was very good. The first half was shaky but honestly, it takes a lot of getting used to playing together and passing off blocks, etc. I'm not worried, they're talented and need time to adjust to each other.

Agree. Except for 2 bad reads (both in red zone) he was a stocky guiton. Not as.fast.as.Braxton but had.some.Good scrambles. More.comfort and the confidence.of a win on the road against a good opponent and he will improve!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 1 Corinthians 9:24

Everybody is saying that Perry played well and personally he had a couple of good tackles but most of the time he struggled to shed a blocker and was way late to react and get outside to contain the pitch. Maybe I'm just crazy but it is what it looked like live at the stadium

When Noah Spence gets back this defensive line is going to be epic. You guys saw the same play I did where Adolphus Washington shed a freaking double team to tackle the ball carrier? The 3 starters were so good today you could argue Joey Bosa was the "worst" of them - that speaks volumes about what this line showed us today.

As I understand it (perhaps I'm wrong but I thought cutblocking was only allowed at certain distances from the snap) and live from my point of view it seemed as though some chop blocks by Navy, particularly when they pitched to the outside weren't called.

9/11 are new on offense. The QB hasn't had a snap of college ball until now. Taking one half to kind of get things clicking isn't a pace I'm upset with at all. You can have all the talent in the world, but if it doesn't click its not worth a lot.

Pass Protection was weak. Tackling was a small problem during the game. JT had some nerves I think and tried to do too much with that pick, but overall he was pretty good. Need the passing game to get in sync earlier in the game

Once the play book got opened in the second half,the oline played a lot better. JT was actually 13-15, just one to the wrong team. I think that interception freaked out Herman and it made him too conservative in the first half. Once they opened it up everyone played better.

Navy was sniffing out the screen, and almost took one to the house. Once they let The Distributor throw one deep and stretch the defense that went for six, it was all over for Navy. JT can throw the ball deep.

This! Navy was daring OSU to throw it over the top. That was open every time. Navy was selling out against WR screens and runs. Herman was being a bit conservative. Barret showed nice touch. Bonehead play on the int but that's gonna happen every now and then. Overall, pretty much what I expected.

Concur. Herman can become almost maniacally horizontal in his playcalling to the point that it stalls the offense. We see what happens when the O goes vertical. I just simply don't understand why there isn't a better blend of vertical and horizontal (and I'm not just talking about this one game) to keep the attack balanced and the opposing D having to cover all parts of the field.

Honestly when you stop and look at it, they did pretty good against a solid team, in the opener with basically a new everything. Next week will be a bit bigger of a challenge but I think these guys are up for it. They got better as the game went on. That's a winning formula.

"The only good thing about it is winning the d*** thing" - Urban Meyer on The Game The War

I think this is a good win for a young team. I was very impressed with the navy offense, their option will give most teams trouble. I actually thought our defense played pretty well. My two concerns are offensive. As an offense I couldn't tell you what our identity is? I believe this is mostly due to poor line play. And I thought frankly that first half we were severely out coached. We moved the ball pretty well but their were a few questionable calls. The bright side is this is a young team that will only get better each game. The best part about being 1-0.....is a chance to go 2-0

I didn't get to post at all in the game thread, so my thoughts on what I saw:

1. Decent, game-managery type performance by Barrett, save the interception, which is the sort of thing you have to expect out of a freshman here and there. Plus, the decision to pitch on the third down play just before the second FG was poor, to put it mildly. But he was accurate, and seemed to have a good sense for the pressure after the first couple of drives.

2. Still not enough of an effort to get the ball to the fast guys in space.

3. It looked to me like Darryl Baldwin got beat badly to the inside on two big losses. We need improvement at that position. The rest of the line looked like it jelled in the second half, but Navy doesn't have elite talent so it's hard to gauge.

4. Play calling on short yardage situations is still an issue. I don't know that we have the talent up front this season to just impose our will, so Herman is going to have to get more creative on third and 1 or 2 than "QB keeps."

5. Nuernberger impressed right away.

6. Nothing at all good to say about the linebackers. Something is seriously amiss with the coaching or the recruiting or both. I try to leave Curtis Grant alone because he hears it from everyone else, but he was running after guys from behind all day long, and that shouldn't happen when Washington and Bennett are getting so much attention from blockers.

7. I can't recall seeing Cameron Burrows make a play all day, which shouldn't happen when you're a safety facing a team that never passes.

8. Samuel had a great debut. I like Elliott, but he didn't give us much today after first defensive contact.

9. I don't care what anyone says, the guy was out of bounds on the first Navy touchdown. I for one am getting tired of the officiating approach of "What the hell -- give the call to the home team and let the replay booth take the heat if it has to be overturned."

In regards to #1, might not have been the best decision by JT to keep on the 3rd down option but he wasn't going anywhere anyway. Stupid play call by Herman, similar to what he did against MSU last yr. It was also stupid not to have the 3rd down run by Eze looked at before rushing to the line for the 4th down, but that's a whole different discussion.

In regards to #6, I'll be the one to say it: I'd guess there's a bit of blame to give to the guy who coaches them and also got demoted from calling the plays and designing the scheme. Down vote away if you must, but I agree there's something wrong there.

Totally disagree with #6....hold judgment on the Lb for now cause of the sceme, that being said I thought Lee looked really comfortable for a freshman making his first start he shed blocks really well and was aggressive, hes got a bright future

I thought Lee did great. He Clownied their quarterback, and returned a fumble for a touchdown. Curtis Grant even had a sack I think. I think the linebackers will get better and better each game, and possibly be a strength this year. We will know more next week.

"Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends"

The guy from Navy was out of bounds, but the worst call I saw in the game is when they said that Elliot fumbled on the third down run. After he gained the first down by rolling over on his back after he was almost stopped, he hit the ground and it was clear to me his elbow touched before the ball came out.

I was at a bar so i couldn't hear the commentary, but did they call it a fumble on Elliott or just that he was down before he rolled over the guy's back? Because he most certainly was down before he went over the guy's back. His entire left forearm and elbow were on the ground. And by looking at the play-by-play, it looks like they called him down.

#6. Pretty much agree but I think we should hold judgment until next week. I think the scheme against Navy lends itself to more of a do your job and don't make a name for yourself kind of thing. The less we heard about playmakers today was more than likely just the fact that they were handling their assignments and honestly we should be glad they did or Navy might have really scored a lot more. This was not a day to play selfishly and I think they stuck with that pretty well.

Mark my words...you will see a lot more big plays from this offense. Navy deserves credit for tackling incredibly well in space, actually as good as any team I've seen us play recently. Dontre, Jalin and company will break some long gains in the coming weeks.

“I have yet to be in a game where luck was involved. Well-prepared players make plays. I have yet to be in a game where the most prepared team didn't win.” - Urban Meyer

To me the bedt part of the game was the end when OSU showed future soldiers a ton of respect by joining them in the alma mater leading Navy to do the same. as the in games go, this team has alot of work to be done. We wont see a rushing attack like that again all year so next week i think we will get a feel for our defense as a whole and not just our dominant defensive line. On offense im not worried about JT, though next week could be very much a nightmare if our Oline isnt improved. I think our offense will only be as good as our O-Line in the run game they didnt open up very many holes for our guys to hit and they have to pick up blitzes alot better if we dont want to start our 3rd string QB heading into MSU game.
offense i grade a B- (bcuz of the Oline)
Defense ill grade a B+ for this game because of how many times the pitchman wasnt covered.

Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it-John 1:5 SEC meet Ohio State, Ohio State meet SEC

Watching this game reminded is game reminded me that last year Braxton somehow seemed to get a foot more than we needed for a first down. I hope that can be replaced by someone. It sure beats 3rd and 1.

Interesting that the article mentions 99 yards between samual and Elliott when talking about replacing hyde and doesn't mention wilson and Marshall's carries.....replacing hyde will be done by committee and top to bottom they looked damn good....I have no concerns about the backfield

After seeing a consistent and effective one-two punch in Xbrax and El Guapo last year, I'm still awaiting new standouts on offense (being patient with the hog mollies too). I liked what I saw from the youth gone wild (all apologies to Sebastian Bach).

Navy is the best OSU will see at what they will see, this was never going to be a walk in the park.

All I can say is I thought JT played great in his first game. 80% completion percentage for 200+ yards and led the team with 50 rushing yards. Sure the INT was bad, but it wasn't like the pass protection was great. In addition our running back position looked like it was below what we are used too. How much better would he have looked with last year O-line, and Carlos Hyde. With all that said, I thought it was the best QB performance for a first start I have ever seen at tOSU. And his stats would have been even higher if the time of possession would not have been so one sided.

What are you talking about the rb position didn't look as good as we are used to seeing? I can't remember the last time I saw 4 freaking guys all look that good taking handoffs on the same team, Elliott, marshall, Wilson and Samuel are all going to continue to get better and we will have one of the best ground games in the country sooner rather than later

Congrats to our Bucks on gutting out the victory. I was dead wrong in my prognostication of Navy. Wow what a train wreck lol. Knew they had an awesome run game but I thought for sure our D would be up to the task. Boy I was mistaken. One glaring defensive lapse that didn't get fixed till with like 6 minutes to go: olb never covered the pitch man. D-E (Bosa) always forced the pitch but glaringly and frustratingly the olb (mostly Lee and sometimes Perry) never once (till the end of the game) came up to force the line of scrimmage. That one play, on both sides of the field, gained way over 200 yards. I just knew our D coaches would make the necessary adjustments at half. Anyways I'm just happy that we won't see that type of O again. Good news is that I saw team growth and unity as the game wore on. This was a great 1st game. GO BUCKS!!!!

I thought the Dline played great! The linebackers played pretty well. And the jury's still out on the secondary. Skilled guys played good, Barret was solid, & the O line was inconsistent. Overall, I think we'll still win the B1G!

edit: first half play calling was very poor. No rhythm & not enough toughness( hate to sound like G. Danielson, but he was right).

Rod Smith looks hungry, just by reading his body language. Bucks should have used our size advantage MUCH more than we did. To me, first half was mostly on the coaches. Second half was much better.

D-Line is just sick. Thought the linebackers played better, would have liked to see Raekwon. Honestly the biggest difference to me was the lack of Hyde and his bruising style. O-Line being a close second. Couldn't get a feel for the DB's because Navy doesn't throw. I'm optimistic as well over all.

There were lots of problems but I kept going back to the OL as the biggest. The DL and LBs are solid, JT will get better and it's evident we're going to have a solid RB by committee this year where we may have a different leading rusher every week. But getting stopped on 4th down by Navy's defense? Not a good sign. Coach Warinner is definitely going to earn his paycheck this season.

"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest Civil War analogy EVER.

1. Losing a player like Braxton Miller really hurts not only from an experience and talent perspective but also because it thins the QB group by a body. Any type of injury to JT will really be magnified.

2. While I really like the potential of Elliot and Samuel, I do not think either has the body mass needed when games are tight to 'move the pile' forward that little extra that is needed on 3rd and short. I am very hopeful that Rod Smith or Bri'onte Dunn can emerge as key players going forward because their size and strength are, in short, tough yardage situations, critical for this team to be great.

Otherwise, I really like the young talent and look forward to this team continuing to improve. Go Bucks!

In tight quarters, body mass and girth mean possibly moving the pile for an extra foot or yard. Hyde's size and strength are significantly dfifferent than the smaller, faster backs featured today. Though I really like the potential of both Elliot and Samuel, we need a bigger body in 3rd and short to convert. Both Rod Smith and Bri'onte Dunn are big ernough to absorb contact and still move forward IMO. Go Bucks!

As much I initially hated the option call on 4th down, after I went back and watched it in slo mo after the game, It looked like JT could have squared up and got the first down or more if he runs. I guarantee that Braxton would have juked the LB and maybe even scored. I think JT panicked a little bit to be honest. In hindsight it was probably a better, safer call to pound EZE or Smith. Look for that play again, once JT sees that crease he will make the right decision. But over all I liked his demeanor on the field and holy shit the trinity of Marshall, Samuel and Wilson will lead to some OMG moments this year.

The Buckeyes covered the spread (-14) while playing a seasoned Navy team (QB 3 year starter), on the road with a redshirt freshman QB that hasn't played since 2012 and still threw for 80+%, 2 TD's and 226 yards. Against a team that is projected to win anywhere from 8-10 games where the Buckeyes had 9 new starters on offense.

That's a good win against an offense known to get its yards due to their triple option offense and one that we don't regularly see and prepare for.

Sure there are some challenge, growing pains. But while we were all hopeful for great things, the inexperience of our offense on the road with the play book dialed back a bit would suggest the game turned out as expected. There is certainly work to do. This game was not as close as the 2009 game at home.

Looking forward to the continued growth of JT and the opening of the playbook a bit more.

If you thought our o-line is a liability, you have plenty of plays to support that. You can dismiss the plays they looked good with "well, it's Navy" with a condescending tone of voice.

If you thought the o-line was going to be fine, you have plenty of plays to support that. You can dismiss the plays they looked bad with "well, that's a 9 win football team"

If you thought the offense was going to be fine without Braxton and El Guapo - you can support that with what you saw. Some early kinks/jitters - big deal. Lot of new guys. By the end they had it all figured out.

If you thought the offense was going to struggle without those two - you can support that too. The failed 4th down, the inconsistency, that JTB seemed to have very little zip on the football and is not likely to see recieiers that open all season.

A few comments from Meyer were correct after the game. Adam Rittenberg on ESPN got it wrong.

The new line on offense was not good in the first half. Game time and practice are two different things. All who play know this. They were much better in the second half.

Rittenberg said the defensive line has to be better. No they don't. Curtis failed to impress again at linebacker. Watch your replays. I must be spoiled, because he is the opposite of Shazier, Laurinaitis, Hawk, Wilhelm, Spielman...he constantly backs up against the run. I don't get it. Perry was much better than Curtis.

Barrett was fine. He threw two picks, thankfully the one was missed and didn't go for six. I am pleased with his overall game and first start against a good defense.

And wow on all those hyper fast skill players. There are only so many reps in the game for all of them. I wanted to see more of Marshall.

One thing I did't see much was the D-line rotation which coach LJ talked much about. We had quick points on board the second half and the defense was on field most of the time, but I didn't see a lot of rotation on the D-line as projected. Am I missing something?

Navy is a good team and will likely win 8-10 games with a win over ND. It's tough to prepare for that offense and while our O-line was below par, we moved the ball fairly easily when we called the right plays. Focusing on the positives, Jalin and Dontre can make up for Braxton's athleticsm and every team will have to respect both sides of the field while we are on offense.

I'm confident we will see our D-line dominate against a more traditional offense in VT.

JT was impressive outside of his one blatant mistake. He looks comfortable in the game and never really got frazzled like many young QBs. He can only get better with confidence.

Play calling was weak. We could basically run ever play and win this one. Cut JT loose and this game is over early. Navy is like the wisky of college basketball. They just take the air out the ball.

Bama fsu lsu. All struggled. We covered and im happy with this defense. Defense wins championships. Va tech didnt look great vs william and mary!!??? I used to smoke pot with william and mary...you dont know a william or mary. I digress.

I attended the game and I think everyone is being too critical of our Buckeyes. You must consider the facts that it was our opening game on the road against a very good and very disciplined team. That team runs an offense that we won't see again until the next time we play them. We started 9 players on offenses who were not starters at those positions even for one game last season. Our QB was not even active last year. And our star DE was ineligible.

Ironically it was Freshmen and RS Freshmen who excelled. I thought Barrett was solid and composed the whole game. Lee was outstanding. And Samuel was our most effective RB.

Our OL last year took several games to gel and that was against the likes of teams like FL A & M. I believe that this year's OL will be very solid by the Cincinnati game and good enough until then. Just give them time to gel. I was more disappointed in the DL. They did not resemble the best DL in the country!

I think Adlophus was the best player on the D this game he was the only lineman who was shedding the olineman and making plays in the backfield. Samuel looks like a stud. I though Jacoby Boren and both guards looked like junior varstiy lineman and need a lot of work.

I realize navy had that tricky option shit going full steam ahead, but the linebackers look eeringly similar to last year's. And that ain't good. But that offensive line and JT and the backs....jellin in the second half. I REALLY like our prospects going forward to game #2.

As crazy as this sounds...tOSU has too many weapons. Its early, but there was to much of a rotation at the running back wr position. No one could get into rhythm. Im down for a dual threat, thunder and lighting backfield, but feed the back who's playing better. I think 3/4 backs is pushing it. Where was Corey Smith?